


Taking Charge

by SML8180



Series: Family Sticks Together [5]
Category: Markiplier-fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Chronic Pain, Domestic Fluff, Family Dynamics, Headaches & Migraines, Possible medical inaccuracies, Responsibility, Sick Character, The Twins Do What They Can
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: Wilford and Dark are out of commission for the day, so the twins need to step up and keep things around the manor running smoothly. The result of the two chaotic newscasters taking charge is surprising.
Series: Family Sticks Together [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589101
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Taking Charge

Not long after King had decided to stay at the manor, a few things happened. Wilford ended up getting sick, after a couple of crew members who worked on his little game show,  _ Spin It Solve It _ , had come to work with colds. The man had caught the same illness, and found himself feeling like hell, unable to get out of bed, with a fever, runny nose, cough, and constant sneezing. Dark  _ would  _ have been the one helping him, if he weren’t suffering from a flareup of his chronic pain and a throbbing headache that brought everything to a screeching halt. The two were having to reside in different rooms, seeing as the ringing that emanated from Dark got worse with his headache, and he was too sensitive to light and sound to be around anyone else.

Meanwhile, King had little clue what was going on. He’d only been around for a week or two, and was still getting used to how things really worked around the manor. He woke up to find the twins at the dining room table, each with a plate of breakfast, and another one in front of his seat. King took his seat, taking note of the absence of Dark and Wilford.

“Where are Dark and Wilford?” he questioned, picking up his fork to start eating his eggs.

“Wilford’s sick; probably caught whatever the guys at the studio have,” RJ stated. “And Dark’s having a bad day.”

“A bad day?”

“Chronic pain,” CJ clarified. “It flares up, and today’s really bad. And he gets headaches, but he won’t see anyone to confirm what it is.”

“He’s stubborn.”

“Seems so,” King responded. “So, we’re gonna be trying to take care of them, today?”

“ _ We  _ are,” RJ replied, motioning to himself and CJ. “You can help if you want to, but I doubt you want to get sick, and Dark’s ringing can be a shock to a lot of people when it’s like this. It’s high and loud today.”

King nodded a bit, going back to eating his breakfast. Once he and the twins were finished eating, the youngest Ego picked up the dishes, bringing them into the kitchen to be washed. He felt two pats on his head, and looked over to see the twins heading off towards the stairs to check on Wilford and Dark.

They checked on Wilford first, bringing him some toast, juice, and cold medicine. RJ knocked on the door to Wilford’s room, before slowly opening the door. The man was curled up under the candy-patterned comforter, his head resting on a pillow that looked like a large piece of candy, while he hugged a pink and black teddy bear. His hair was a mess, and he looked generally miserable.

“Wilford?” CJ addressed, unsure if the man was even awake.

“Hmm…?” came a quiet, rough hum from the bed, as Wilford stirred, turning his head to look over at the door.

“We know you probably aren’t up to eat much, but we brought you some toast and a glass of juice,” CJ told him.

“And we brought you some medicine that should help, too,” RJ added, heading towards the bed with his brother.

“How’s Darky…?” Wil asked, making a slight effort to sit up. His voice was rough from his coughing.

“We haven’t checked on him since earlier this morning. We came to make sure you got some medicine, first,” RJ replied.

“We’ll check on him once you take this, alright?” CJ proposed, holding out the two gel capsules that made up the full dose of cold medicine.

“Hate swallowing those things…” Wilford protested, his slurred accent even thicker with how tired he was.

“We know,” RJ replied. “But we don’t have any of the liquid stuff left, so it’s this or nothing.”

Wilford grumbled, but sat up the rest of the way, taking the capsules from CJ. He popped one into his mouth and took the juice from RJ, taking a sip to help the medicine go down. After a short coughing fit, he repeated the process with the second capsule, taking an extra sip of juice before laying back down, burrowing into the covers. He watched as RJ set the plate with his toast on the nightstand, and gave a little momentary smile when they each gave him a little pat on the head before heading towards the door.

“We’ll check on you later, alright?” CJ confirmed, pausing in the doorway.

“Mm-hm…” Wilford hummed, giving a little nod. With that, CJ followed his brother out, closing the door to the room behind him.

The twins then made their way to Dark’s room, picking up a bottle of water and getting a damp washcloth as they went. RJ gave a single, soft knock at the door before starting to open it, being careful not to make too much noise. As soon as he opened the door, he and CJ were met with a loud, high pitched ringing. They hardly reacted to it; the pair had been around Dark for  _ decades _ at this point, and so they were used to the shifts in the volume and pitch of the ringing that followed the Ego around.

As the door opened, the two did their best to limit how much light came in with them. The room itself was dark, with no lights turned on and the heavy black curtains drawn over the windows, letting in almost no light. There was a form on the bed, covered with the black and white comforter, with a washcloth over their forehead. Dark had hardly moved from where he had been earlier that morning, still laying on his back, eyes shut.

“Dark?” CJ whispered, approaching with his brother. They were met with only a quiet, pained noise from the man on the bed.

RJ set the bottle of water on the nightstand, and removed the washcloth from Dark’s forehead. “Did this help at all?” he whispered in question.

“A bit… Felt nice…” Dark managed to respond. He was clearly in a lot of pain, going by the strained quality his voice had, and how sluggish the echo was.

“I can come back up with some toast if you want any,” CJ offered, keeping his voice low as he set the cool cloth over Dark’s forehead. The man in the bed let out a soft sigh at the feeling, suggesting that it at least felt good, even if it didn’t help all that much.

“Maybe later…”

“Alright. You’ve got some water here, it could help.”

“How’s Wil…?”

“Fever, cough, and all that. We got him to take some medicine, though.”

“That’s good.”

“We’ll leave you alone, now, if you want. And make sure that it stays quiet.”

“Thank you…”

With that, the twins left the room, quietly shutting the door behind them. They made their way down to the living area, and found King laying on one of the couches, reading a book while a couple of squirrels were perched on him; one on his head, and one on his shoulder, both curled up and seeming to be comfortable.

“Who are these two?” CJ asked, approaching King, speaking softly as to not disturb the two critters lounging on the man.

“Hm?” King hummed in question, looking up from his book. “Oh, this one’s Chestnut,” he stated, motioning to the squirrel on his shoulder. “And this one’s Chippy,” he continued, motioning to the squirrel on his head. “They’ve been a little under the weather, so they’re just staying with me.”

“That’s cute,” CJ smiled, taking a seat on one of the other couches, while RJ sat beside him.

King nodded a bit. “How are Wilford and Dark?”

“Wilford’s his usual self when sick; tired and grumpy,” CJ replied.

“And Dark’s in rough shape,” RJ continued.

“Has he tried any painkillers?” King questioned.

“They don’t really touch his pain,” CJ told him. “He’s tried just about everything. Nothing really helps enough for him to bother.”

“So he just has to wait it out?”

“Basically.”

“That sucks.”

“He hates it, but there isn’t a lot that can be done.”

King nodded a bit, returning to his reading. He couldn’t imagine what Dark was going through, simply having to wait out pain that confined him to his bed. He’d seen Dark with a cane a few days after he’d first gotten to the manor, but hadn’t thought anything of it. Now, he knew that there was a reason for it, and a fairly serious one, at that. All King could do was hope that Dark’s pain subsided sooner rather than later.

The day went by fairly uneventfully, which was a surprise to King. From what he’d seen of the twins originally, the pair was chaotic on the best of days. But now, they were running the manor without any issue. There was a bit of joking here and there, but the two brothers were fairly serious about what they were doing.

The twins checked up on Dark and Wilford a few times throughout the day, bringing them whatever they needed. They made dinner, and cleaned up the dining room and kitchen after. In all, it was as if Dark were still running things, with how well the day went. It was surprising how well things went with the two brothers taking charge, but it wasn’t like anyone was complaining, and it certainly wasn’t new for them to need to take care of themselves. They  _ had  _ been living with Dark for decades, a bad day like this was bound to crop up every now and then. Truth be told, when need be, the pair really knew how to keep things running, at least for a few days, until Dark was once again able to take charge of the manor.


End file.
